Elsevier to Provide Textbooks for Five New edX MOOCs

Book content from Elsevier free for edX students

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Waltham, MA, October 23, 2013

Elsevier, a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, today announced that it has agreed to provide edX with Elsevier science and technology book content for up to five massive open online courses (MOOC).

EdX offers online learning to students on campus and millions of people around the world with its open-source platform. Elsevier will provide textbook content for free online as part of the course materials and will offer a discount to purchase the print or electronic version of the text to those enrolled in the MOOC.

Previously, Elsevier has piloted textbook content in one edX MOOC, the inaugural course in Circuits and Electronics taught by Anant Agarwal, edX President and author of the Elsevier book, Foundations of Analog and Digital Electronic Circuits. Each of the five courses, produced by edX partner institutions, will use an Elsevier text, chosen from the publisher's catalogue in computing, engineering, math, science and criminal justice.

"We are very pleased to be using textbooks from Elsevier, a publisher with a long history of producing first-class content," said Anant Agarwal, President of edX. "As a result of this arrangement, students taking courses from our 29 institutions of higher education will be able to access free high-quality textbooks within the course itself."

"Elsevier supports various open access initiatives," said Suzanne BeDell, Managing Director of Elsevier's Science and Technology Books group. "Working with edX is a great way to offer open-access book content, keeping MOOCs widely accessible and supporting better learning and research outcomes."

As part of the agreement, edX will provide Elsevier with anonymized usage data that can offer insights into how students are using and accessing the content.

"Learning how students interact with the material and where within the content they spend their time will help us identify where we should adapt the type of content offered for an improved learning experience," BeDell added.

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About ElsevierElsevier is a global information analytics business that helps institutions and professionals advance healthcare, open science, and improve performance for the benefit of humanity. Elsevier provides digital solutions and tools in the areas of strategic research management, R&D performance, clinical decision support, and professional education; including ScienceDirect, Scopus, SciVal, ClinicalKey and Sherpath. Elsevier publishes over 2,500 digitized journals, including The Lancet and Cell, more than 35,000 e-book titles and many iconic reference works, including Gray's Anatomy. Elsevier is part of RELX Group, a global provider of information and analytics for professionals and business customers across industries. www.elsevier.com